Northbrook SD 28 board votes to begin study of withdrawal from True North cooperative

The Northbrook SD 28 Board of Education on June 24 approved a resolution to notify the True North special-education cooperative of the district’s intent to study withdrawal, Superintendent Dr. Pearson said. The resolution notifies the cooperative of District 28’s intent and begins an internal study; it does not by itself finalize a withdrawal.

Why it matters: True North provides shared special-education programs and related services to 18 member districts. District leaders said the cooperative’s membership and cost structure are changing, and members are exploring alternatives to ensure continuity of services for students who currently receive programming through True North.

Dr. Pearson said the process has been accelerated because multiple member districts are considering withdrawal and that the leadership council may vote to dissolve the cooperative. "This next year, everything is exactly the same as it was this past year at True North," Pearson said, adding the district committed to services for the coming year during winter planning.

District 28’s special-education director, Dr. Scullis, described work with other township directors to map services and identify what could be provided in-house, shared within Northfield Township, or require external placement. "Positionally, I think here in District 28, we're in a really good position because many of our related service providers — psychologists, social workers, speech language pathologists — are in house already," Dr. Scullis said.

The board was told the planning work includes a small superintendent task force that supports a proposed three-year off-ramp from the cooperative and exploration of a successor structure that could offer different governance and pricing models. Officials said the goal is to preserve service continuity while developing a cooperative or network more responsive to districts’ varying needs.

Officials identified program areas that will require further analysis if True North dissolves or membership changes: Arbor (autism-focused programming), North Shore Academy Elementary and North Shore Academy (social-emotional and behavioral programs), assistive-technology coaching, specialized transportation, vocational supports (the PACE lab), and extended school-year services. District 28 staff said some services — for example, community-based instruction and certain coaching functions — already involve significant district staff participation and might be restructured locally.

The board approved the resolution to notify True North of the district’s intent to study withdrawal and to preserve the district’s option to withdraw before the cooperative’s December decision deadline; the resolution itself was described at the meeting as an intent to study rather than a final withdrawal.

Next steps: district staff said they will produce a student-services report summarizing priorities and planning steps for the board and will continue participation in cooperative-wide meetings scheduled for July to coordinate planning across member districts.